With only a week to go before the start of rehearsals, Victoria Simmonds who is singing the part of Pinocchio, talks about her journey so far...
I first heard about the project about three years ago, when David Parry (the conductor) mentioned it to me. He was conducting a production of Don Giovanni that I was singing in at the time and he asked me if I was free in 2007/8. I was thrilled to be considered for such an important project and kept the dates free for it.
I think it must have been about a year and a half ago when Jonathan Dove first contacted me to arrange to get together so he could hear my voice. We finally managed to meet at Jonathan’s flat and I sang through a number of pieces so that he could get an idea of my range and the different qualities of my voice at different registers. By that stage, Jonathan had already got quite a lot of ideas on paper and he asked me to sing a few phrases that he had in mind. By May this year, the opera was virtually finished and we got together again so that Jonathan could sing through most of my part to me and I could sing some bits for him. It was really exciting to hear it for the first time! I remember wishing that I was a better sight reader because I wanted to be able to just sing it out without stumbling but after a couple of goes it was easier to get my brain round the melodies. Jonathan decided to change a couple of notes while I was there, but on the whole I think he was happy with what he heard. All I had to do then was wait for the final copy of the score to be sent to me in July.
No sooner had the score been sent to me, than Opera North was on the phone asking me if I could come and do a recording of some excerpts of the opera for the marketing department. Of course I said yes and got to work learning the parts that had been chosen for some of the cast to record. When I came up to Leeds to record the tracks in August I was quite nervous in a way, because I had only sung through the music on my own and hadn’t had any coaching from anyone. However, we had a short rehearsal with David Parry and Jonathan and after working on it with them I felt much more confident about it. We had some lunch then went through to the big hall where the orchestra were setting up for the recording session.
It’s always exciting to work with a new orchestra – a new sea of faces to try and remember and maybe eventually get to talk to! When they started to play I was blown away by the sound. Of course in my profession I’m fortunate enough to get to hear orchestras play quite often, and even more fortunate to get to sing with them, but this was different because none of us knew what to expect. I’d had a CD sent to me of a sing through of the opera which Jonathan had recorded, and whilst it had been a great learning aid, it was only voice and piano, and gave few clues as to the final sound of the piece. Hearing those few excerpts in their full glory made me even more excited about being involved in this project.
Last Tuesday I was invited up to Leeds to sing in their local press launch. Unfortunately Martin Duncan (our director) got on a train that decided to break down, and had to go back to London before coming up to Leeds, so between myself, Jamie Laing (who plays the Fox and the Coachman) and Tony Kraus (assistant conductor), we tried to find as many excerpts as possible to sing to the assembled throng. I really enjoyed it – it was a chance to sing some different sections of the opera to the public for the first time, and I also got to see my costume designs for the first time. Let me tell you, to someone such as myself, the words “lycra cat suit” strike fear into my heart, but after I’d got over the shock of the basis of my costume, and realised I’d be covered in “wood effect” panels as well, I calmed down a bit, and immediately vowed to do more exercise and stop eating sugar! I also managed to look at some flats while I was up, and found a nice one to stay in for the rehearsal period.
As I write this there’s exactly one week till the start of rehearsals, so it’s countdown time for me in many ways: I have to make sure I’ve learnt the whole opera by heart and thought about it a bit too; I have to think about what I want to pack and take with me to Leeds for the next 6 weeks rehearsals; I have to sort things out at home so that my husband and daughter have as easy a time of it as possible while I’m away. Quite enough for one week I think! I also have two auditions to do this week, so I think I’d better stop writing this now and get on with some practice…. Bye for now! xV
